I wanted to melt into a puddle on the floor and disappear.
“I’d like to continue being alone with you,” he said, “but without an audience.”
Ethan didn’t give me a chance to refuse, as if I would. He tugged me by the hand, leading me through the crowd, outinto the freezing night without a coat, and up the stone steps to the glass doors of the mansion.
A security guard stood in the hallway just past the door to an available bathroom, no doubt to discourage guests from wandering farther than necessary into the house. Ethan spoke in German, and after considering the statement, the guard waved us along.
The hallway opened into a grand entryway with staircases on either side. My heels clacked and echoed across the marble flooring, then fell without a sound across the Persian rug. But of course he made no noise whatsoever as he strolled to the stairs.
“How did you get him to let us through?” I asked, climbing alongside him.
“I told him my girlfriend was diabetic and needed someplace quiet to take her insulin.” He’d delivered it in a straightforward tone, like what he’d said was no big deal. It was a lie, after all. Yet he’d called me his girlfriend.
Hadn’t I made it clear I wasn’t capable of a relationship?
“Do you know where you’re going?” I asked when we reached the darkened landing at the top of the stairs. I had to regain some control. From the moment he’d appeared, unexplained pressure pulled me to him. A force I was powerless against.
He grabbed the knob of the first door on his left, turned it, and after flipping on the lights, revealed what appeared to be a home office. “This’ll do.”
His hand was warm on my back as he guided me through the door into the masculine room that smelled of aged leather. There was a subtle thud as the door shut, and then the distinct click as he locked us in together.
28
ETHAN
I couldn’t wait any longer.I’d hoped the first door we came to would be a guest bedroom, but this one housed an enormous bookshelf, a desk that looked like it wasn’t in use, and an oversized brown leather couch.
I could work with that.
Her caramel-colored hair fell like a curtain over her bare shoulders, the ends curling softly where the sin-colored dress began. Jesus, I’d about had a heart attack when I’d spotted her. The plan to congratulate Shawn and Kara was forgotten once I’d seen the red dress hugging her curves like it was made for her.
“Are you going to make good on your promise?” Her voice was tight.
My brain and body were so focused elsewhere, it took a moment to realize what she meant. She wanted me to start talking. “Yes, I will. I just need a?—”
Abruptly, she launched forward into my arms, her hand fisting in my hair, yanking my head down so she could crush her lips against mine. The aggression turned me on. Not like I needed any help in that department. I placed my hands on her waist and urged her backward. She teetered unsteadily on the heels she probably wasn’t accustomed to, but her lips stayed with mine.
A picture frame nearby rattled on its hook when I forced her back against the wall, and that broke our kiss long enough for her to gasp. As the ragged breath came from her parted lips, I pushed her hair out of my way so my mouth could work lower, down over the delicate skin of her neck.
I’d spent every night since I’d last seen her thinking about what I would have done if my alarm hadn’t gone off, warning me to get my ass to the airport so I could catch my flight to Rome. I’d planned different scenarios, a variety of ways I wanted to have her. Now that she was here, I was going to execute each and every one of them.
I grazed her neck with my teeth, and followed with my tongue at the same moment I traced my fingertips over her shoulder, down the line of her exposed collarbone toward the center of her chest. But a warning sounded in my mind, making me halt.
Olivia was trembling.
Not a shudder, but trembling as if she were filled with fear. I withdrew, concerned, and the terrified look on her face made my alarm flare. “What is it?”
“Something’s wrong with me.”
Without hesitation, I pulled her away from the wall, cold sweeping through my body like it had been poured on me. What was happening to her? She was pale and shaking hard, her eyes wide. Had someone used her to get to me? I knew just how easy it was to poison a target.
Focus. Get her help.
“Can you walk?” I could carry her if she wasn’t able, down the stairs and back to the party where someone was sure to have a medical background. I bent swiftly, scooping her up in my arms.
“Wait! Wait!” She sounded guilty. “Put me down. I’m fine.” She stared up at me, her face flushed with something that looked like embarrassment. “I didn’t mean something was physically wrong with me.”
“What?” Stepping back from the edge of... panic? No, not panic. But whatever it had been, it made me uneasy. “You’re sure?”
